Trimet “has submitted a binding offer,” the company said
today in an e-mailed statement. Electricite de France SA “will
have a minority holding in the production plants” in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Castelsarrasin, according to the
statement.

Rio has been seeking to sell at least 13 aluminum assets
since 2011, when it grouped the operations in its Pacific
Aluminium unit in preparation for a possible disposal. It has
been in exclusive talks with Trimet on the French plants, which
have 515 staff members, since March.

Rio confirmed receiving a binding offer “conditional upon
the appropriate regulatory approvals and completion of an energy
and partnership arrangement with EDF” followed by a partnership
agreement with the Banque Publique d’Investissement, the company
said in an e-mailed statement.

Wolfgang Nuebold, a Trimet spokesman who works for
Stockheim Media GmbH, declined to comment on the amount of the
bid or specify the size of the planned holding by EDF when
contacted by phone.

Trimet intends to invest as much as 250 million euros ($327
million) in the plants within 10 years, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Iffert said on May 21.